Exocet XP-3

Need new track videos now!

I've been dealing with 150 excited Miata owners for the last 3 days. You'll get videos, but not right now.

Keith Tanner wrote: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIcDt0WVk18 You know, what a 1500 lb car really needs is 310 wheel hp...

You're not saying that's what it made, are you?

It's what I said it made in the video description, and yes, it did. Uncorrected, it was 258 hp. That's with absolute manifold pressure equivalent to 8 psi at sea level. Corrected, it was 310 with 13 gauge psi.

We've recommended it be run at 11 psi on the gauge once it gets back to Atlanta, which should be good for right about 275 corrected/uncorrected wheel there.

Take your pick of one of those three numbers, whichever one you like the most.

Oh sorry... i was on my phone before, description didn't pop up.

275hp in 1500lbs (well 1700 with me in it)...............that sounds AWESOME!

I'm excited about just getting ~160 or so in the '90.

275 @ 11 psi is probably the best one to use. We're still working out the kinks on this new dyno, but it's dialing in well.

It's pretty damn fun. I was hopping back and forth between the XP3 and a couple of LS3-powered Miatas on the day. The most impressive part of the XP3 was the braking. We never took full advantage of it, but I had to recalibrate every time I got into a different car. The Nittos we had on the Exocet felt like Hoosiers in the corners.

The Miatas could put their power down better. I think that was due to the clutch-pack LSDs versus the Torsen (with very short gearing) in the XP3. If it were my little track car, I'd stuff in either an OS Giken with a 3.9 or I'd find a way to mount a Getrag with a 3.73. I'd definitely want to try that before building an LSx powered Exocet. When it was on the track, it was making about 225 uncorrected as we hadn't yet put it on the dyno.

There's obviously still a lot of untapped potential in XP3. Partly the lack of front aero, which was felt on our long sweeper. Partly familiarization with the different performance envelope. And partly just the usual rattles and bangs that are the result of a rapid build.

There are a lot of Exocet fans at FM now. We're really happy to be signed on as a dealer. Still working on that video...

it needs more power... more

Where's the play button on that picture?

Did you get any usable video from that wing-mounted camera? XP-3s mounts are strong enough for the forces involved, but not very stiff. We used a new mounting method on your chassis (turns out 101ksi DOMEX is hard to tap in-situ), but even still, both the front and rear wing mounts are designed for wire rope stabilizers. The front mounts are also designed to be flexible in an impact direction, which was proved by the lack of front frame damage on XP-3 after the impromptu trailer loading incident / crash test. The little tab on the very front top part of the frame has three holes, one is for a wire rope clevis.

Still working on the video - we went back this morning for a bit of extra footage. We had to use an LS3 Miata as a camera car

And yes, the footage from the wing cams worked out okay. There's a little bit of shake on one of the clips but it'll do. We also stuck the camera in the cockpit, on the "dash", on cars ahead and behind...if only we'd had the front wing to use as a mount.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Sweet! Can't wait to see it!

Do you guys have a rollbar mount? They're useful everywhere on an Exocet. For that reason, we actually are distributors of the Flymount: http://store.exomotive.com/product/flymount-camera-mount-and-gopro-adapter-bundle

I'm sure Kevin could work something out, not sure how many we have in stock ATM.

Nope, I only just reentered the GoPro ranks after being burned by the original. So all I've got is a suction cup and some stickies. I'm in for a Flymount, toss one in the FM frame for me

Our track photographer got some wicked shots of the car. I'll put them up once we've got the licensing sorted, but you can see a lot of them on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.502607849820559.1073741828.267987323282614&type=1

It's going back in the cage as I type, ready for a trip back to ATL.

As XP-3 is sitting in a semi on its way back to Atlanta for the SOUTHRNFRESH meet on Sunday, I took the liberty of stacking some numbers:

(curb weight / HP)

1.7 Red Bull RB8

2.3 Hennessey Venom GT

3.6 Exocet LS3 w/hot cam

4.0 McLaren F1

4.1 Exocet LS3 w/o hot cam

4.1 Unrestricted NASCAR Cup Car

4.2 Bugatti Veyron

4.6 XP-3 (and I even used the lower 275whp number, we don't know what it makes on the 100 octane map)

4.6 Ferrari Enzo

5.0 Lamborghini Aventador

5.4 Corvette ZR-1

5.5 LS3 NB2 Miata w/ hot cam

5.8 Ferrari 458

6.1 Porsche 997 GT2

6.4 KTM X-Bow

6.6 TMI Atom3 K24

7.5 Corvette C6 (Base Coupe)

13.4 E36 M3

13.8 FR-S

14.2 Mazdaspeed Miata

16.4 NB2 (better power/weight than the NB1 and all NAs)

Haha you better get some bodyguards to protect you from the hitmen KTM and Ariel are going to send after you!

Notice that the only things above an Exocet with an LS3 & hot cam are one of the quickest 7-digit-price 4-digit-horsepower supercars and a freaking Formula One

A Top Fuel dragster has roughly 0.23 lb/hp. To get that same level from the Exocet would be tough. Using something like this

would get you into somewhere between Pro Mod and Pro Stock

Anyway, that's just silly stuff because power/weight ratios on drag cars amuse me when compared to things like the Bug and the F1 cars.

Keep keeping us posted. This thing is really amazing.

FM has some track video of XP-3 on their Facebook page. I'd post it here, but I only have my phone (unloading XP-3 from the crate now).

I can do that!

Edited with many camera angles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux5oJv2_Xzg

Raw footage. This one's interesting if you want to know how easy it is to drive. It starts off with my very first laps ever in the car - I hadn't even driven it before. Granted, I'm using my braking points from the 2500 lb V8 Miata, but you can see that it gets pretty comfortable pretty fast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wSeBRu2bbo

Got it off the crate, took a little spin after checking jy out. Wow. Completely different machine now. So much torque. In a slightly dusty industrial park, it still pulls pretty damn hard. Third gear should be a right of passage for every gear head. Fourth is on the verge of alarming.

Can't wait to get it tagged and take it up to the mountains...

You can see it's different, in the UTCC videos you can barely tell that the car was boosted, now the power delivery is like a 300ZX TT or Koenigsegg CCX, where when you first hit the gas it's like

Then the boost kicks in and it's like

Not a lot of second gear hairpins at VIR either :)

Warren v wrote: Got it off the crate, took a little spin after checking jy out. Wow. Completely different machine now. So much torque. In a slightly dusty industrial park, it still pulls pretty damn hard. Third gear should be a right of passage for every gear head. Fourth is on the verge of alarming. Can't wait to get it tagged and take it up to the mountains...

Jeremy told me he backed off the manual boost controller before we shipped it because we knew it would change with altitude. So you're not at full boost yet Give that little knob a turn until you see 10 psi on the gauge after the initial little bump. Might wake it up a bit more.

After a bit of time to reflect on the car, I feel like I now need to write this:

A naturally aspirated Exocet feels amazing and fast. You can thrash it without fear, it soaks up what you can dish at it.

XP-3 with it's Flyin Miata FM2 turbo setup is serious-fast. With 275whp, it's the same power/weight as an 800hp Mustang. Lightness is one hell of a drug.

Even at the reduced boost levels today, it was fast enough that I feel like I need warn those that choose to go down the path of turbos and beyond: get some experience first. Do a couple autocross events, take a driver training school, do a few HPDEs. When you get to power/ratios past an Enzo, things become serious.

Those planning V8s, realize that you are utterly insane, and your keys will suddenly become weapons of mass destruction. According to my research, this humble little 1.8 turbo is faster than every mass-production car (ignoring tuner specials and cars with less than 100 examples). That said, we're planning a V8 of our own.

You have been warned.